The present invention relates to collecting or retrieving spent cartridges which are automatically ejected from firearms and, more particularly, to collecting empty cartridges as they are ejected from a firearm which is fired repeatedly from a relatively fixed position, as in target shooting.
It is desirable, for obvious economic reasons, to recover spent cartridges in order that they may be reloaded with a new bullet, powder and cap or primer. The brass cartridges ejected from pistols and rifles during target shooting are always collected following a firing exercise, usually by picking them up from the ground or floor. This inevitably involves searching for cartridges which may have bounced or rolled for some distance from the firing position, and may create a tendency on the part of the shooter to watch the cartridges as they are ejected. This distraction, of course, adversely affects concentration and therefore accuracy. There is also a safety factor involved in that shooters may be struck by hot brass ejected from nearby firearms.
Cartridge collecting receptacles, or other such means, have been provided in the past to insure that all spent cartridges will be caught and avoid the necessity of searching for and retrieving empty cartridges from the ground. To the best of our knowledge, however, all of the prior art cartridge collecting means have been attached to or somehow physically associated with the firearm. This in itself can cause a mental distraction, besides exerting an additional force on the firearm which is not normally present.
It is a principal object of the present invention to provide means for collecting spent cartridges from a firearm which is fired from a relatively fixed position wherein no structure is attached to or otherwise physically associated with the firearm.
A further object is to provide a free-standing receptacle for receiving cartridges automatically ejected from a firearm upon firing from a predetermined location laterally adjacent the receptacle.
Another object is to provide a free-standing cartridge collector having means for effectively preventing cartridges from rebounding or bouncing out of the receptacle upon being received therein.
Other objects will in part be obvious and will in part appear hereinafter.